Beware of online specials posted by RCCL

[robtulipe]

20 cruises with Royal Caribbean, 27 cruises overall. I have, luckily, never had a problem with any promotions, discounts, OBC's, etc. But I always have a copy of everything. I simply save it to my computer and take my computer with me. I don't print out anything, but if needed, it's right there. So my vacations are "worry free." But in this day and age of computerization, things sometimes "fall apart." So, I have proof of everything. It's easy, and just makes sense.

 

I do the same with the laptop I use when travelling and only carry a list of all reservations principle details and confirmation numbers. Do this for cruises, flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. Only things I print out is the Set Sail Pass, luggage tags and maybe a cruise roll call list, if one is available.

Like you said any supporting documents is readily available if saved as a document or screen shot on a PC or tablet.;)

Edited December 15, 2014 by robtulipe

[robtulipe]

Each of my cruises has it's own 9x12 envelope that I stuff all confirmations/paperwork in. As much as I prefer electronic records, I don't want to spend time on vacation trying to find/bring them up. Plus once you are floating around the ocean it becomes expensive to try and bring up said records.

 

This is one example of where old school simply works best, so long as you don't lose the envelope of course.

 

Not if these are saved on your personal device which could even be as small as a flash drive or memory card.;)

[JasonV1]

Not if these are saved on your personal device which could even be as small as a flash drive or memory card.;)

 

 

No argument there, and I do have everything electronic as well. I keep everything in TripIt myself, love that app.

 

Paper is nice though if they want a copy to do research. Sadly some companies still don't know how to deal with anything other than a hard copy.

[jkrislc]

I had a similar issue on Celebrity as they offer a 20% discount if you dine on the first night in a specialty restaurant. Took three visits to customer service and providing a copy of the email to receive the discount. They really shouldn't offer something that not prepared to honor without effort on the customer's part.

[orville99]

Not if these are saved on your personal device which could even be as small as a flash drive or memory card.;)

 

Unfortunately for us, the one time we had this type of issue on board and had the documents saved on our iPad, GS refused to do anything until we physically printed them out and handed the paper copy to them. It took us three trips and finally a personal session with the purser to convince them that the electronic document was real.

[Cindy]

Sorry to hear you had a problem!

 

The only dining discount I've seen recently seems to be a new standard one -- book 3 or more specialty restaurants and get 30% OBC applied to your on-board account. We did that on the Oasis last month and it worked exactly as advertised...30% of our total paid showed up as a negative charge from 150 Central Park on our bill. There was nothing on the statement to indicate that it was an OBC, but the amount was right and when I asked about it I was told that's what it was.

 

My planner for the Serenade in March has the same discount offer, and again, I've already booked the dining. I hope the process works as efficiently as it did on the Oasis.

[KansasK]

We just returned from cruise on the Navigator of the seas. Two weeks prior to cruise, RCCL website posted a WOW promotion for the speciality restaurants. They offered 15% off one, 20% off two and 30% off three. These had to be prebooked and prepaid. We called RCCL, reserved three restaurants and paid. The representative assured us that we would receive this discount, applied as a shipboard credit. Unfortunately the Navigator refused to honor this promotion. When we went to the guest services desk, the manager (Anna) was rude and just ignored us. She stated she didn't have time to discuss this and if we wanted this discount to show her proof. Apparently customer service is not in her job description. Another couple was at the desk with the same problem and they were treated the same way. There is a lack of communication between the ships and the RCCL website.

Just a warning. Print out everything from the website, request written confirmation through email and be sure to bring written copies.

Apparently RCCL has a history of changing promotions while you are at sea. We will never pre-pay again. Once you get on the ship, restaurants offer 20% discounts.

 

I was surprised at the rudeness at customer service. To ask for proof, if done in a polite way, is not out of line, but to say she did not have time to discuss this is unacceptable. Her job is to have time for each problem a guest brings. If she has to get back to you, then that is OK, too, but to just blow you off is not doing her job.

[Big_G]

I was surprised at the rudeness at customer service. To ask for proof, if done in a polite way, is not out of line, but to say she did not have time to discuss this is unacceptable. Her job is to have time for each problem a guest brings. If she has to get back to you, then that is OK, too, but to just blow you off is not doing her job.

 

 

I must be lucky. I've never experienced rudeness at guest services. I know I haven't always been happy with the answer but it was always delivered in a polite and professional manner.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[FLACRUISER99]

Not if these are saved on your personal device which could even be as small as a flash drive or memory card.;)

How do you print them?

[readytolose]

Do any of you know if Rita's Fiesta counts as one of the specialty restaurants for the discount? It's booked as an activity versus specialty dining so I'm thinking not, but just curious if anyone has experience with this.

[Ocean Boy]

And, did you have your copy of your confirm email? They always send a confirm email for everything bought or booked

 

It would also be on your credit card statement which you could have printed out after booking. Why don't you send rci a copy so they can refund you, they will make it right

 

You could have accessed your cc account/e mail from the ship and printed off the info

 

Everytime something gets screwed up by RCI you seem to find a way to turn it around and find some fault with the customer. I once cruised with the intent to go paper free as I had all of the documents I could possibly need in my e-mail and figured I could access anything that I might need while on the ship. Sure enough I needed something and when I tried to log into my e-mail from the ship I was locked out because it was an unusual IP address and it "looked like" someone was trying to hack my account.

 

And that was my first and LAST paper free cruise.:D

[knittinggirl]

We had something similar on Navigator. We had pre-purchased a night at Chops, and booked the other two onboard. They told us that we'd be getting the 20% back as OBC. But it didn't appear.

 

Ghastly relations told us that we didn't qualify, because I already had gotten Chops at a $5 discount. (We'd prepaid it before they raised their prices.) I finally went to the Concierge in the Diamond Lounge, and she gave us 20% off for the other two but not Chops (because I'd received a discount.) 20% of $30 should have been $6, not $5.

 

Jump to Grandeur, we purchased one of their three dinner packages onboard. They billed us on day one for both Giovannes and Chops, and never sent a reminder. On Izumi's buffet, they reminded us and charged us during the meal. We're on vacation, and now we have to keep track of our reservations because they don't do reminders.

 

 

Not a WOW!

[Cindy]

Everytime something gets screwed up by RCI you seem to find a way to turn it around and find some fault with the customer. I once cruised with the intent to go paper free as I had all of the documents I could possibly need in my e-mail and figured I could access anything that I might need while on the ship. Sure enough I needed something and when I tried to log into my e-mail from the ship I was locked out because it was an unusual IP address and it "looked like" someone was trying to hack my account.

 

And that was my first and LAST paper free cruise.:D

 

Ha! As much as I like to think of myself as modern, I can't seem to let go of a few very important pieces of paper. That goes for cruise documents, boarding passes, event tickets, etc. There's still something very comforting about having a piece of paper in my hand!:D

 

What I've done to greatly reduce the amount of paper is convert most documents to PDF and take them on my iPad. Rest assured, I still have a paper copy of my final (paid-in-full) invoice, and other important documents all together in a folder!

[critterchick]

And, did you have your copy of your confirm email? They always send a confirm email for everything bought or booked

 

It would also be on your credit card statement which you could have printed out after booking. Why don't you send rci a copy so they can refund you, they will make it right

 

You could have accessed your cc account/e mail from the ship and printed off the info

 

I have never gotten a confirming email from anything that I have booked in advance. After I pay, I get a "thank you, critterchick@xxxx.com" (instead of my name), we will send an email to you. But it never arrives.

 

I print out everything from the car pickup at our house until the return ride home. For the Quantum PI, I printed out the planner, which was three pages long even though it was 2 night cruise and I only had 3 reservations. You'd think they could streamline that a bit, but they have a lot bigger IT problems to deal with than that.

[setsail]

I have never gotten a confirming email from anything that I have booked in advance. After I pay, I get a "thank you, critterchick@xxxx.com" (instead of my name), we will send an email to you. But it never arrives.

 

I print out everything from the car pickup at our house until the return ride home. For the Quantum PI, I printed out the planner, which was three pages long even though it was 2 night cruise and I only had 3 reservations. You'd think they could streamline that a bit, but they have a lot bigger IT problems to deal with than that.

 

I really don't know why some don't get emails from rci, it could be a number of reasons. Most of the time ours come within 30 mins. Of booking/buying something, we always call, not online. If I don't get it, I call right back and stay on the phone with the rep until the email pops up.

[knittinggirl]

Thanks for the reminder; I usually keep hard copies of everything but did not remember to print out to the promo pdf (same one linked on the first page).

 

Each of my cruises has it's own 9x12 envelope that I stuff all confirmations/paperwork in. As much as I prefer electronic records, I don't want to spend time on vacation trying to find/bring them up. Plus once you are floating around the ocean it becomes expensive to try and bring up said records.

 

This is one example of where old school simply works best, so long as you don't lose the envelope of course.

We do something similar but with report folders. I prefer the ones with a flap inside the front and back covers, and also three prongs for inserting pages. I include the order history as well as our cruise calendar, itinerary, and an extra copy of setsail pass and luggage tags. The cruise calendar goes on our stateroom wall with magnets. Our main copy of the setsail pass gets folded and put inside our passports.

[Tim,n,Sue]

We learned early on to print off copies of everything and take them with us. I also keep a hardcopy of all documents and payments, including out Set Sail account for at least 6 months. Have had a few occasions where it has saved us.